It’s another great music weekend happening right here in the Rim Country.

All day, on Saturday and Sunday at the Payson Event Center, the 42nd Annual Old Time Fiddler’s Contest & Acoustic Music Celebration will be rockin’ the south end of town.

On Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in the high school auditorium, the Daniel Rodriguez concert will open the 2012-2013 Tonto Community Concert Association season. The eight-concert series will run until May.

Rodriguez, “the New York City singing policeman,” will be joined in this season’s TCCA debut concert by his lovely and talented wife, soprano Marla Kavanaugh. Their musical program will include songs from the United States and Marla’s native country, New Zealand.

Single concert and season tickets (for such shows as “Ricky Nelson Remembered,” the “Masters of Motown” and the “Legacy of Floyd Crammer,” just to name a few) are still available and will be sold at the door.

As a special tribute to those who keep us Rim Country residents safe, the TCCA has invited all of our area policemen and firefighters, who come in uniform, to bring a guest and enjoy this concert free of charge.

For bluegrass fans, tonight (Friday) in the high school auditorium, beginning at 7 p.m., the “Old Time Opry” will be hitting the stage. The first half of the program will present the five-piece traditional bluegrass sound of the up-and-coming Valley-based band, Run Boy Run, featuring Payson born-and-raised Bekah and Jen Sandoval.

The second half of the concert will feature the nationally renowned bluegrass band, The Special Consensus. Formed by banjoist Greg Cahill back in 1975, the four-piece group strikes a balance between the traditional and progressive schools of bluegrass. From their 1990 album “Hey Y’all” to their latest release just this year, “Scratch Gravel Road,” this bluegrass-with-an-attitude group has produced 16 CDs.

This week’s music trivia question is: Can you name the Kentucky-born singer-songwriter who is known as “The Father of Bluegrass?”

This accomplished vocalist and mandolin picker invented the style, invented the name, and for the great majority of the 20th century, embodied the art form of bluegrass. Beginning with his Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s, he defined a hard-edged style of country music that emphasized instrumental virtuosity, close vocal harmonies and a fast, driving tempo.

From 1944-1948, this artist’s band included Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, who left to form the Foggy Mountain Boys.

For the first time, this week’s trivia contest is going to have three winners. If you are the first caller (time is of the essence) and have the correct answer, you’ll win two free tickets to tonight’s (Friday’s) Old Time Opry concert in the high school auditorium, courtesy of Parks and Recs’ Nelson Beck.

If you’re the fourth caller and have the correct answer, you’ll win two tickets to Sunday’s Daniel Rodriguez concert, compliments of the Tonto Community Concert Association.

If you’re the sixth caller, you’ll also win a pair of Daniel Rodriguez tickets. Unfortunately, Ann and I are not able to attend, so you’ll win our tickets.

Last week’s Music Trivia Question

This past week’s trivia question asked you to name the R&B group from Indianapolis, Ind. who in 1956 recorded the song “I’d Walk A Country Mile.”

This 1940s-50s group was seldom absent from the pop charts, topping the lists with “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me)” (1940); “I’m Making Believe;” and “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall” (both in 1944); and “The Gypsy” and “To Each His Own” (both in 1946).

Was the name of this “I’d Walk A Country Mile” group: A) The Mills Brothers; B) The Ink Spots; C) The Merry Macs; or D) The Pied Pipers?

The correct answer was The Ink Spots. Each of the other three groups were also very popular during that same era. You may remember your parents (or grandparents) singing along with the Mills Brothers’ 1943 blockbuster “Paper Doll;” the Merry Macs’ 1944 hit “Mairzy Doats:” or the Pied Pipers’ 1945 chart-topper “Dream.”

Congratulations to last week’s music trivia contest winner, Judy Corwin, of Payson, who has won several times in the past.

Some final notes

If arts and crafts shows are your thing, you’ll want to be sure to check out the Masonic Lodge’s annual fair this Saturday and Sunday, both inside and outside their building on Rancho Road, just a half-block east of the Beeline Highway.

A whole lotta crafters will be on hand, displaying their unique products. And, as always, there will be plenty of eats and music (I’ll be there) to make this event a fun time for the whole family.

Also, I’ve added two new sets of pictures to my Web site — from last Friday’s Rim Country Middle School dance and from last Saturday’s Alzheimer’s walk at Green Valley Park.